Premier League: Southampton VS Arsenal: Spirited Saints hold Premier League leaders to 1-1 draw

Granit Xhaka gave the Gunners the lead in the 11th minute of the game, but Stuart Armstrong cancelled that goal in the 65th minute to ensure the Saints scored a point.

And it was no more than they deserved. While Arsenal was the stronger side in the first half, Southampton did get much better in the second half.

Indeed, they were slightly on the ascendancy in the second half when their equalizer arrived, but it wasn’t the end of a thrilling back-and-forth encounter.

Arsenal, who had dominated much of the first half, fought back hard and searched high and low for a winner.

Indeed, they thought they had one when skipper Martin Odegaard converted home from close range after a last-ditch pullback cross from Kieran Tierney.

However, the goal was not given correctly, so – replays showed that the ball had gone out of play before Tierney’s slide tackle-styled cross.

That was the last significant chance that either side had, although just a while, it did seem like there would be more goals in the game.

The Saints had a few shots on goal after they scored but crucially did not find the back of the net again, which kept the game open.

It was a very different fate from what many suspected they might have suffered had Arsenal added to their goal tally in the first half.

Ben White started the party for the Gunners after playing in an excellent cross from the right-hand side and picking out Xhaka, whose half-volley settled nicely into the top of the net.

It was a well-taken goal, and many suspected it would lead to Arsenal seeing an easy win against a Saints side struggling for consistency.

However, crucially for the home side, they could not add to their lead – and this kept the match open going into the second half and led to them conceding an equalizer.

After the game, Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta lamented his side’s inability to kill the game off when they were on top.

“We were really good in the first half and controlled the game. We created loads of big chances that we didn’t put away.

“In the Premier League, unfortunately, if you don’t do that when you are on top of the game, you can have some difficulties.

“In the second half, we put ourselves in problems with the amount of giveaways that we had, especially with the ball in possession, and that didn’t allow us to control the game the way we wanted.”

The draw sees Arsenal stay on top, but they only have a two-point lead over second-placed Manchester City.

On the other hand, Southampton slipped to fifteenth on the table, but they have a three-point gap to the drop zone, albeit with an extra game played.